Key diplomat Holbrooke gravely ill

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Top U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke is in critical condition at a Washington, D.C., hospital after heart surgery, the State Department said Saturday.

Holbrooke, 69, is currently President Barack Obama's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He has held many top government posts and is best known for negotiating the 1995 Dayton Accords that ended the war in Bosnia.

"Ambassador Richard Holbrooke was admitted to George Washington University Hospital yesterday," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. "This morning, doctors completed surgery to repair a tear in his aorta. He is in critical condition and has been joined by his family."